As every astute and awake person knows… people buy from someone who they like and trust. The unconscious decision making process is driven by emotions and validated later with “logic”

Our emotions are the powerful motivating force. Great leaders understand the importance of connecting with followers on an emotional and intellectual level. The emotional connection… where followers get to “like”, trust and begin to really connect with their leader is vital for real team building and peak performance. Emotional impact enables the smart leader to truly inspire and ennergise their team and move them towards optimised and effective teamwork

Out Hearts emit a stronger impulse singla than our brains.. measurably so. Our emotions drive the actions we take. So when leading a team be aware of the impact of your emotional influence. Imagine a time, when you heard a really inspiring talk. How did the speaker behave. How did they espouse an endless list of “do-it-like-this- facts”, or did the keynote speaker engage you on a an emotional level with engaging stories, which aroused your emotions?

For most effective team building, you must learn the art of connecting with the hearts of each of your team members. Because; Motivation is manipulation, and inspiration is the “breath of God from within”. People yearn to be truly inspired and ennetgised and moved to action by someone, who truly lead with LOVE / From their heart.

Truly effective leaders , avoide sitting in their ivory towers and barking a list of instructions to thier minions. Smart and effective leaders know that in order to draw out their teams best perormance and passion. to give thier extra discretionalt effort… they must respect and trust you as a true leader.. not by your title. but by your actions,

When you touch their hearts, they will unleash their full passion with thier hands. Emotions are the unconscious drivers of our most effective actions and all decisions in our life and workplace teamworking.

Smalrt leaders understands that in order to move people into massive action, where they consistently give their best, you connect with them on a deep emotional level first. Leaders who force or coerce thier team with threats and maipulation, will drive them with negative emotions, such as fear, animosity and anger… This can only work for a short-term. It is unsustainable for optimised peak and team performance.

Eventually staff become burn-out, demotivated, with draw thier discretionary effors and deliver the bare minimum, so as to avoid the consequences of your punitive threats. If you truly plan inspire more efficient teamworkl and personal peak performance, you must find the ways you can connect to thier hearts and souls. By using the positive Appreciative Inquiry approach you can begin to engender and connect the workplace culture with positivity and empowering emotions. When people are happy, inspired and fuelled by thier positive emotions, they have increased energy and passion to explore, expand, discover and deliver peak performance.

When someone experiences negative emotions, automaticcally their amygdala (Small part of the brain focussed on survivale a/ avoiding danger) narrows thier focus on the “danger/threat. The mind goes onto “Protective mode”. When teams are happy, ennergised and inspired with positive emotions, their focus broadens and builds. They can be RESPONSE-ABLE rhather than reactive… and engage in pro-active discovery, exploration and expansion.
Negative emotions automaticaly contract and positive emotions automatically expand focus and possibility.

When teams experience negative emotions they unconsciously focus on “what-is-wrong” instead of “what-is-right”. So instead of being enabled and empowered to delivering their best, they resort to a protectivew ” avoiding loss” rhather than playing to win. When teams are truly INSPIRED using positive visualisation to generate positive emotions, they become more constructive, more ennergised and more open to seeing new and more innovative possibilities. This empowers better performance and teamworking on multiple levels and inspires and transforms them to be able to give their best each day.

The stronger the positive, resectful, relationship a leader has with their followers, the more likely the followers will want to deliver thier best efforts. A leader builds credibility with thier her team, by walking thier talk… By leasding with their head and their heart. and shows by thier actions that they care for and only want the best for their teams.

The secret of effective leaders, is that they connect with each member on an individual level. They discover and understand thier dreams and desires, their fears and hopes. Effective leadership requires that you focus more on the positive than on the negative, It requires that you are hones, open and confident… even in the face of the storm. The leader creates the space for thier followers to “show up”. They create the vibrational possibility of success in spite of the prevailing, possibly negative environmental messages.

Smart leaders ensure continued energy and contribution, by providing regular guidance, coaching and sincere, specific personal praise and appreciation. A leader must walk their talk and live the values ascribed to, and described by, the teams vision, mission, and values.

Remember that the responsibility for building staff engagement, connection and trust with your team is the leader’s Response-Ability. The Workplace culture must be consciously crafted to create a positive, supportive, high performance space. Leadership is about WE more than ME. Explore and discover the talens, passions and unique value each individual brings to your teams and teamworking. Show them that you sincerly care for them as a person beyond the JOB / workplace. Connect with them and thier dreams each day… and you will empower thier thourgh a positive appreciative approach to deliver their best.

Author: Tony Dovale Leadership Training Workshops and REAl Team Building